Steven Palazzo has represented southeast Mississippi (MS-04-- Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Biloxi, Laurel) since the Great Blue Dog Apocalypse of 2010 when he beat longtime incumbent Gene Taylor. Unless you live in some blood-red hellhole, you probably never met a public official as right-wing and extreme as Palazzo. Even though he represents a hurricane prone Gulf Coast area-- which was devastated by Katrina-- he was one of the few Republicans from coastal areas to vote against aid for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. The 4th has a PVI of R+21 and Romney beat Obama there, 199,354 (68%) to 92,127 (31%), Obama's worst performance of any of Mississippi's 4 districts.One of the reddest counties in the reddest district is Pearl River, a hot bed of neo-fascist/Confederate level right-wing extremism and home to a powerful Tea Party movement which ousted the conservative Republicans in 2012 and took over the official party apparatus, putting a libertarian extremist college student, Tavish Kelly, in charge of the county executive committee. They grabbed control of 11 of the 15 seats on the executive committee board. Obama only won 19% of the vote there last year, as did Matthew Moore, the Democrat who ran against Palazzo. District-wide, Palazzo beat him 173,576 (64%) to 77,041 (29%).But it isn't a Democrat that Palazzo has to worry about in his reelection plans. A member of Michele Bachmann's Tea Party Caucus, the Club for Growth has been recruiting someone to run against him. They claim he isn't right-wing enough. And it looks like they found their man... Tavish Kelly. From his Tavish Kelly For Congress website:
The right to keep and bear arms is among the most important freedoms of any American, and the Second Amendment should be interpreted to prevent any and all Congressional legislation infringing upon that right.Like many Mississippians, Tavish Kelly has used firearms for both sport and self-defense his entire life, and today he helps spread his passion through Kelly Firearms, a retailer and manufacturer of guns and ammunition in Picayune.While in Congress, Tavish will actively work to repeal unconstitutional laws such as the National Firearms Act, Gun Control Act, and Brady Act, as well as prevent further incursions on the right to self-defense.